A database system comprised of a decoupled compute layer and storage layer is implemented to store, build, and maintain a canonical dataset, a temporary buffer, and projection datasets. The canonical dataset is a set of batch updated data. The data is appended in chunks to the canonical dataset such that the canonical dataset becomes a historical dataset over time. The buffer is a write ahead log that contains the most recent chunks of data and provides atomicity and durability for the database system. The projection datasets are indexes of the canonical dataset and/or the buffer that may have single or multiple column sort-orders and/or particular data formats. The writes to the canonical dataset, projection datasets, and buffer may be asynchronous and therefore the database system is advantageously less resource constrained.